USI's provost says university's future linked to region it serves

MOLLY BARTELS / Courier & Press
Linda L.M. Bennett, the University of Southern Indiana's provost and vice president for academic affairs, gives a public presentation and answers questions Friday at USI. Bennett is one of three candidates for university president.

The University of Southern Indiana's future is tied to its efforts to help develop the region it serves, Linda L.M. Bennett said Friday.

Bennett, USI's provost and vice president of academic affairs, addressed the university publicly and answered questions as part of her interview process as a candidate for president of the school.

Linda L.M. Bennett

<IF YOU GO>BACKGROUND: Bennett, 56, earned her bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Cincinnati.

CAREER: She has been the University of Southern Indiana's provost and vice president of academic affairs since coming to the school in 2003. Before that, she embarked on a college teaching career at both private and public institutions: Wittenberg University (1983-96) and Northern Kentucky University (1996-99), where she chaired the political science departments, and then as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

OTHER: Her office houses a floor-to-ceiling wall of bookshelves filled with well-worn books, sometimes shelved two deep. But she also likes to use humor to make her point. She calls it being seriously humorous.</IF YOU GO>

She is one of three finalists seeking to fill the job held by current President H. Ray Hoops, who will retire June 30.

Other candidates are USI Vice President for Student Affairs Robert Parrent and Timothy Todd, dean of the college of business and public affairs at Murray State University.

Both of them already have addressed students, university faculty and the public in similar public sessions.

USI's board of trustees is expected to select the university's next president during a brief public meeting at 8:30 a.m. today in the University Center's Carter Hall.

Universities have survived past recessions with few problems, Bennett replied. But she said the depth of the current recession makes it more worrisome.

"Our enrollments have been rising," she said. "But how long will rising enrollments endure if credit markets stay tight?"

USI is the most affordable higher education institution in the region, Bennett said, but a lengthy recession still could make it difficult for students to afford school.

"That is another reason why we have to keep our focus on the development of the region," she said.

When asked how she might provide leadership on helping maintain student involvement in campus life, Bennett said the problem may be overload instead of student apathy.

She spoke about the number of full-time students she has encountered who work nearly full-time hours at their jobs.

One solution, Bennett said, is to increase student employment opportunities on campus. Funding for such an initiative has been included in USI's current state budget request.

In response to a question about her opinion on campus diversity, Bennett said the university needed to focus not just on attracting a diverse range of racial, ethnic and international students and faculty, but also on efforts to retain them.